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scottklink

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Hello,
I'm new to this but after researching soapmaking the past few days, I'm kinda excited to jump in head first.
My wife and I have a tradition of hand-making christmas gifts for one another and this year I thought it would be great to make soap and or shampoo for her. If i'm successful at it I would like to use the skill for future gift ideas.
Her favorite is an Aveda product with rosemary mint which I don't expect to make exactingly, just similar. Does anyone have recommendations? It can be soap, shampoo, lotion or conditioner. My preference would be a soap but any ideas are welcome.
I see there are numerous places to buy supplies online and recommendations for buying supplies would be appreciated as well.
Thank you in advance and I look forward to hearing your input!
Scott
 
Welcome!

Not sure that soap is the sort of thing to go head-first in to - if you want to get it ready for Christmas, you'll need to get it right first time - it will need time to cure and we're getting tight for that.. I'm not sure what that soap is like, but in the beginner section are a lot of standard recipes to get you going (such as 20% CO, 30% OO and 50% Lard), these will produce a perfectly fine soaps.

If time is of the essence, then a lotion might well be better.
 
Frankly, you are too late to make good soap for Christmas unless you want to use Melt and Pour(aka MP). I agree with Effy. What about some lovely lip balm, lotion, body butter, bath bombs, or other products? Those won't require 4-6 weeks cure time. And no matter what you may hear on YouTube, hot processed(HP) soap does still require 4-6 weeks cure time.

And welcome to the addiction! I just think maybe you need to dip a toe in before diving in head first on this one. LOTS of research ahead of you before you make your first soap, then you need safety equipment and lots of other stuff.
 
I second the others. You have time to make a bunch of products; however cold-processed soap won't be ready for Christmas.

A lot of soap supply companies have good melt and pour bases that are ready to use for hand crafted soap (imho, stay away from the craft stores' bases as their quality isn't the best). Some of those same soap suppliers have all the ingredients to make sugar scrubs, lip balms, lotions, bath bombs, bubble bars, massage candles, etc. Check out http://www.soapqueen.com/ for a bunch of ideas. It is sponsored by BrambleBerry (a supplier), and they make it easy to buy their products. You can find the same products at a bunch of other places though... if you prefer. There is a bath/body forum here for questions and ideas on those too!

You do have time to get started with Cold Process for Valentine's Day though! Soaping101 on youtube is great teacher for CP soap and, of course, the experts here. Good luck and welcome to the addiction!
 
Thank you all for your input. I'll follow all the advice and try to forge some lotion instead, then shoot for soap for Valentines day.
Happy holidays to all!
Scott
 
Yes, lotion is a great starter project. Check these out. Lindy posted in the bath body and aromatherapy recipe forum this wonderful tutorial for goat's milk lotion.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=48113&page=2

And this is also a great starter recipe. http://soap-queen.blogspot.com/2008/11/gift-series-lotion-tutorial-from.html?m=1

For cp (cold process) soap making, you really need to research a lot and be totally comfortable with the process "on paper" and know "what to do if...." happens before diving in there. It makes your first soaping experience so much nicer (and frankly safer). :)

Word of advice, less is more in the fragrance dept of lotions. I put 1 gram more than I intended when I made my first lotion batch, and it was really strong. 1 more gram and it would've been horribly overwhelming.
 
For all things Bath and Body, I consider Susan to be the leading (and most generous) authority http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.com/ Plan to spend some time, but if you scroll down the page you will see all the categories on the right side. There is a beginner lotion tutorial, lip balms, scrubs... a wealth of information and fairly simple gift ideas.

For the fragrance, here is a rosemary mint http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/products/revitalizing-rosemary-mint-fragrance-oil.aspx and I am sure other suppliers carry something similar as well.

You could also still make soap to gift for Christmas, just instead of a "Best By" date, put a label on it that says "Best After (6 weeks After Making)".

Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide and how it turns out!
 

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